I always master to -2 True Peak -8 LUFS for my music and It still sounds loud and dynamic. It is always good to leave a certain headroom as you don't know the quality of devices listening to your music.
@OlbaidMusic2 жыл бұрын
Good insights as always. What is really an absolute true is that this topic doesn't matter much if you did not invest enough time on your composition, sound design, arrangement, etc. Good music first, technical stuff later.
@inthemix2 жыл бұрын
The is song always more important that the technical stuff. You're absolutely right!
@doppewaxy2822 жыл бұрын
That's not relevant,coz once you got to build good behaviour from scratch,on your way up,even if you are not from professional college,as former education,for us (bed room producer)it's so important to consider such,there is no short cut boy,coz if you embress it you ain't gonna get there,so stop lying yourselves,don't 'bargain cheap',thanks to A.I nowdays,KZbin and such,right informations are a lot,you can learn to the extent,even though in joints,but time will tell.gretings from East Africa Tanzania 🇹🇿
@cwilliammusic2 жыл бұрын
Music has to be as loud as it can be, period! As mixer engineer we understand the psychological effect of loudness and frequency on our mind. Use a clipper and just beaware of not introduce unpleasant harmonics or distorcion.
@cwilliammusic2 жыл бұрын
@Akooa without loudness a song won't impact. Read carefully what I said. As loud as it can be. I never said make it so loud an destroy it.
@DanBranza2 жыл бұрын
Mixing and mastering legend
@rionvalet2 жыл бұрын
Sage Audio too
@TachyBunker2 жыл бұрын
Wow. I was really worried and didn't know what levels to master at, if we had to do different levels for each platform or.... thank you! This is a huge relief, thanks to your advice again!
@andreas99242 жыл бұрын
Whenever I become too stressed or worried about my music production abilities or workflow, all it takes for me to get back on track is watching a couple of insightful videos from you. Thank you so much as always!
@manasiangal14052 жыл бұрын
What a timing for you to drop this video! I was getting extrememly confused about the loudness. Thanks for helping the common crowd so much, Michael!
@inthemix2 жыл бұрын
Thanks, if you needed help setting the loudness when mastering I'd suggest watching one of my youtube mastering guides too. It will have a lot more practical steps to follow :)
@manasiangal14052 жыл бұрын
@@inthemix ohh I have, and they are extremely helpful! Your channel is literally my no. 01 go to channel regarding everything production and sound design related! Thanks very much for everything you are doing! :)
@nikkiejurnigan6842 жыл бұрын
@@inthemix can you Make us the list of levels for Mixing before Mastering
@inthemix2 жыл бұрын
@@nikkiejurnigan684 there is no such thing!
@ceonationz2 жыл бұрын
Sincerely speaking, I really appreciate you a lot Micheal, your tutorials, advise and videos has made a very great impact in my growing process and I'm very sure many producer here have the same experience. Following your footsteps I've also started my own KZbin channel, building a music production community Thanks In the mix
@inthemix2 жыл бұрын
Thank you for the kind message. It's great the you are making helpful content too. Best of luck with your channel!
@ceonationz2 жыл бұрын
@@inthemix Thanks
@alibanmusic11742 жыл бұрын
Man u don't know how much I respect ur tutorials...where were u 10 years ago when Noone didn't want to help teach me shit! Blessings from Toronto!
@alibanmusic11742 жыл бұрын
U should get a job with imageline
@VV-nh4zp2 жыл бұрын
Just what was lookin for. Great timing!🙌
@Mix.Master2 жыл бұрын
Thank you for the video. I hope that now is clear for everyone, that mastering for platforms means the peak levels, and not the RMS loudness volume. Well explained. I was arguing on that with some stubborn people, and even now, they didn't get it clear. Good work. Cheers!
@danielleung85852 жыл бұрын
I always turn off normalization when listening on spotify, which most people don't do. So whenever songs are mastered to i.e. -14 lufs, it's much quieter than other tracks where loudness is just pushed to the max.
@inthemix2 жыл бұрын
I have the same experience. I use Spotify without the normalisation (they also don’t use normalisation on web player or the TV app…). It’s quite frustrating which is why I discussed pushing the levels higher when you can :)
@thechaoscourt88362 жыл бұрын
@@inthemix I pushed my song higher than -14 lufs and even with the Normalization switched on my song sounded really low in volume and it just couldn't compete with other music. I don't know if it's just Spotify, but -14 Lufs doesn't really worked for me and I have started aiming for a much higher number. The same Master sounded well on other Streaming services, but Spotify just disappointed me. One last trick I tried to sort of research how loud the songs were, they were mastered at so high Lufs levels you can't imagine. Try using Virtual Cable and route the Spotify signal into your Daw.
@Rise1Prod2 жыл бұрын
@@thechaoscourt8836 Spotify uses replaygain, which was good at the time. But it doesn’t use LUFS as a measurement. Also read somewhere that It is notorious for being sensitive to skewed mixes. Like if you might have to much High or low end, it Will think the track is louder than it actually is. Hope that helps abit
@suavemusic_official2 жыл бұрын
Whenever I push music to platforms, I am pushing around -9 lufs and peaking at -0.1db in final mastering. Comes out pretty nice for me in all honesty.
@igverebeats81562 жыл бұрын
Yo Mic, I ain't know what to say, stay blessed 🌟
@inthemix2 жыл бұрын
You too!
@ChaceBonanno Жыл бұрын
I don’t want to be uploading a different master to social medias for promo. If I lower the true peak from -1 to -2, I’ll have to decrease my dynamic range by using a limiter/maximizer, or by normalizing the volume down 1db. It makes much more sense to me to just always have my masters peak at a maximum of -2 for all platforms.
@WhereAreTheGods2 жыл бұрын
Great video. Love the extra insights. One thing that was forgotten when dealing with WAV files if bit rate. Example: DistroKid will accept 32bit while CDBaby only accepts 16bit... regardless of where they're pushing the song. Levels are key but your WAV formatting is very specific based on distribution requirements. Keep up the good work! I tell everyone about your channel and it helps a lot of people.
@PetiPolk2 жыл бұрын
Hey, on point as always. My way about it is that you shouldn't go for the limit left from the "loudness war". Actually no consumer stops a track and says "That is x dB quieter/or louder/ than my expectations and I want more". Mix and master like a consumer. 50 years ago there were very different standards for mixing and limiting and great music was created back then. Thanks for bringing this topic. Expert video as always. Thank you.
@cdney82852 жыл бұрын
This is incredibly useful👌, thanks Michael
@gaving3214 ай бұрын
Your tutorials have to be the best out there , can clearly understand what you mean, music I make is hard dancer music it needs to be loud, mines currently hitting -6.9 lufs , seems to loud that will be then lol
@JSPahadi2 жыл бұрын
This Video Is Really Helpful Rhank You So Much Specially Social Media Part Most Of The Time Insta Reel Audio Quality gets Distorted & Most Of The People Don't Know How To Solve It 👏 Thanks For Helping & Getting This Point 😇
@brettmaddan32552 жыл бұрын
Hey Michael, Thanks for this. I always look forward to your posts. So useful, and always interesting! You are one of the few youtubers that I always make sure to check every new video you make. Keep it coming, we really all appreaciate your knowledge, and the way that you explain things. Thanks a lot!
@flysolow382 жыл бұрын
Really appreciate the fact that you make videos on the topics that you do, a lot of your videos cover things that most channels on youtube don't and you've helped me understand a lot of things, keep doin your thing man💪
@sharan75042 жыл бұрын
What a timing Michael!!! i was worried about the social media thing that you discussed and i had no idea why my music was sounding so bad on insta. YOU SAVED MY LIFE!!!!!
@_kobeats2 жыл бұрын
Working with ozone really helped me urderstand this video in way I wouldn't some time ago. Thx!!
@sk83r599 ай бұрын
I'm very new to mastering, and this has helped so much! You're a huge inspiration to me. You are one of the main reasons why I want to become a producer! The valuable information you give for free is so helpful, especially for beginners like me! Thanks again!
@MukeshRathore Жыл бұрын
Thanks a lot Micheal. It is indeed a quite confusing topic but the way you explain things it becomes so easier to understand. Take a bow sir!!
@ISIISBeat2 жыл бұрын
Thank you Michael 🤝
@thaironmantis2 жыл бұрын
I am grateful for all of your tutorials you have made me a better engineer i study your videos like they are class assignments and I am learning everyday thanks to your insights i am very appreciative
@nikolaykamenov25972 жыл бұрын
Great advice and to-the-point as always! Love your content, Michael 🔥❤️
@justinoko28912 жыл бұрын
I am a beginner in FL and I've learned many useful tips from this channel. Thank!
@shykall2 жыл бұрын
Every advice provide is gold , and is given in a very open minded way. Your really are one of the , if not the, kindest youtuber . The music making gentleman ;-) Because every end of year is the time of awards. I give you the gold medal of the most pleasant and interesting posts to watch. I wish you a high level , dynamic, uncompressed happyness for 2022.
@ChristophJakob2 жыл бұрын
Always enjoying these mastering videos! I'm at a point where I don't even really remember how I was ever able to work without Youlean Loudness Meter 2 or Ozone haha. But for what I'm doing, that's more than enough! =D
@STAR0SS2 жыл бұрын
When a song is quiet I turn the volume up, when it's badly compressed with no dynamics I skip it.
@inthemix2 жыл бұрын
This is my experience too, I have no issue choosing the volume myself. However I have literally seen people skip right past a song because it wasn’t loud in the first 10 seconds… listening to music is a completely different experience for some people!
@Xylume2 жыл бұрын
The people that truly enjoy music and have invested in expensive DACs, mixing consoles, pre-amps, tube-amps, amps, headphone amps, powered speakers, powered monitors are going to harness the best audio quality out of quieter recordings.
@Xylume2 жыл бұрын
@@inthemix I agree that some people want it extremely loud and some want it dynamically clean for their high-end audio system. Some people won't play music at a full volume on their main system until they can check to make sure it's under 0dB, but they won't care if they're just listening to it on their headphones or computer speakers.
@TheCelestineProph4 ай бұрын
GREAT VIDEO. THANKS FOR THE SUGGESTIONS. I will be putting them to practical use. Cheers🥂
@Filipmarinchev723 ай бұрын
Thank you for this exalent video !!!
@fmajor_music2 жыл бұрын
I never get bored watching your videos you are a great teacher
@ayisielidala1112 жыл бұрын
Im a Professional producer because of you 🔥🔥🔥
@fleursousvotre2 жыл бұрын
these are crazy helpful
@deangullberry7772 жыл бұрын
Great video explanation, have a song i am mastering currently and have always had trouble with this topic. Thank you.
@seanmack61502 жыл бұрын
I was thinking about this yesterday and boom! Thnkz Michael
@bitflux22 жыл бұрын
i think this is the best video on the topic in youtube, well done
@patricketp83562 жыл бұрын
Thanks for that
@oz18362 жыл бұрын
Super helpful video, thanks a lot for the info!
@inthemix2 жыл бұрын
I’m glad it helped :)
@Ranakade2 жыл бұрын
Damn, I was always wondering why songs I streamed on common platforms like Spotify sounded so boosted compared to my final mixes. I never knew that my uploaded songs would get boosted as well. Thanks for this vid! Really helpful!
@zackmartinez.2 жыл бұрын
Bro I love ur videos , you have a great sense of detail when it comes to giving info , I understand everything !
@etiennetrading2 жыл бұрын
You are a living legend kind sir! Thanks for the help
@skygazer36962 жыл бұрын
Alwayd straight to the point.. Very informative tutorial. Mike never disappoint.
@aviralxd35832 жыл бұрын
Interesting video even before I started.
@harmlesscreationsofthegree12482 жыл бұрын
Great vid, was curious about this topic and you delivered the answers, thanks!
@ashishsinha2452 жыл бұрын
Thank you sir
@WilmerPachas2 жыл бұрын
I really love all your videos. Thanks for sharing this useful information with us. Greetings from Peru!
@ilgi76082 жыл бұрын
This channel is gold! Thank you mate
@nemttofficial2 жыл бұрын
Another amazing video! Your videos are so awesome. Thanks for sharing your knowledge about music.
@hermn2 жыл бұрын
Very helpful. Thank you sir. Much appreciated and just in time!
@igglue76712 жыл бұрын
I've always have wonderd about this, I'm glad Micheal did a video on this.
@elishaijaz49792 жыл бұрын
Thank you bro! Really needed this video
@hyurisalvador39142 жыл бұрын
Nice tip! Now I know how to master in different platforms! Also when is your next sound design tutorial?
@igorristic3912 жыл бұрын
Thank you, super helpful.
@obayaljaber85982 жыл бұрын
It's rly a great information for me My tiktok and instagram reels videos tend to have worst quality sound than KZbin even though I put the peak at - 1Dp. Hope this - 2Dp tip will fix that up Thanks for the info
@rakibv8ight8442 жыл бұрын
Thank you, great and helpful content as Always
@artsandtechnology2 жыл бұрын
one of the best youtube content out there thank you
@kribu19052 жыл бұрын
❤️Love u vro
@josipvulic54712 жыл бұрын
Such good info, thank you for this!
@itsalv12 жыл бұрын
Very helpful! Thanks for the amazing video!
@randomguyonsake2 жыл бұрын
Great video man. Helped me a lot. Keep it going ❤️
@mmg-k5x4 ай бұрын
lovely vid thanks!
@xnervemusic2 жыл бұрын
This was really helpful thanks Mike 💪
@bhargavdobhal5327 Жыл бұрын
Thank You Bro🙌🙌Very Helpful Video🔥🔥.
@boristubeti67762 жыл бұрын
Why commercial masters tend to be much higher than -12LUFS? Thank you 🙏🏻
@bubulmaster52302 жыл бұрын
Thanks for all your videos
@ElijahEzell2 жыл бұрын
Always great! I had released a single and put the preview on my Instagram and yes it definitely clipped on there. So Thank you for bringing that up! Good stuff!
@inthemix2 жыл бұрын
It certainly adds a crunch doesn't it! I'd maybe even try a test with a mono version for Instagram. I have had some people come forward and tell me that mono audio worked better for them! Maybe test it as a private story post and hear the difference :)
@ElijahEzell2 жыл бұрын
@@inthemix ahh mono would make sense too. that's a good idea! Thanks for sharing!
@IJLAudio2 жыл бұрын
Very interesting thanks for this! I’m trying to make something promotional for a sci-fi themed game and was trying to push it to “survive” on the social media platforms; second thoughts now of course. Thanks for the advice man 👌🏻🤓
@saolairde3962 жыл бұрын
Brilliantly explained thank you 🙏
@j.o.n.i.h3 ай бұрын
When someone listen to your -14db lufs song without volume equalization it's going to be a lot quieter than pro records. The loudness is in the mix. When you get better at balancing your mix you notice that it's easy to get etc -7db lufa loudness. This has been the biggest struggle for me personally for so long.
@james2touchmuminkohbeats.212 жыл бұрын
I do doubt if I ever enjoy a teacher like you, I drop mathematics class because of my secondary School teacher 🤣 he confused ordinary adding numbers. I will be a great producer some day because of you thanks much❤️
@salvazo2 жыл бұрын
Current streaming services are doing it wrong, as I bet you 'secretly' opine. I think normalization applied should be in terms of turn up the volume and not lowering it down. Am I wrong?
@mehraein_2 жыл бұрын
very helpful and informational as always
@newheightsfitness14612 жыл бұрын
Very informative! If I'm selling on Bandcamp, can I go lower with true peak? Down to -0.1, as they are purchasing the FLAC?
@jentaro2 жыл бұрын
You are going up not down. And yes, you can if your material is mixed good and is not distorting. I would actually recommend this strategy for that specific site.
@sumitromandal61732 жыл бұрын
Thnx for the video sir hope you are doing well....can you do a video on Fruity Love Filter? It would mean a lot
@aaronpanganiban48272 жыл бұрын
I've been trying to figure this out for a while now and I can't seem to get it. I manage to get it to average 14lufs and been striving to keep it under that -1db True Peak, but it still doesn't sound as loud as other records and it's been frustrating me to no end. How do you hit it that loud while sticking to these numbers?? I've heard that the average mastering engineer goes WAAAY past this and yet they still sound good.
@inthemix2 жыл бұрын
Good question, I tried to address this in this video. When pushing it louder you need a brilliant listening environment and monitoring system so that you can adjust the various compressors, limiters and EQs to find the best compromise between loudness and quality. For instance, I use consumer headphones to listen to my masters (apple ear buds) but I can’t use them when dialling in my settings, for that I have to use my mastering grade headphones (DT1990 Pro)
@kartikkunwarvlogs2 жыл бұрын
Thank u 😇❤️
@NimeshShresthaeditor Жыл бұрын
I’ve always loved your videos. They are very educational. Can you please guide us how to calibrate studio monitors properly? Thank you.
@PrinceEfue2 жыл бұрын
Thanks you for all these knowledge
@Kru1722 жыл бұрын
You my friend, are a life saver :)
@dynamicphase82392 жыл бұрын
If you're making electronic music go for -6 LUFS I would say
@DarkRider142 жыл бұрын
Can you make some tutorial on professional mastering like skrillex do - 3/-4 Lufs level🙂
@bahanijeannot35722 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much
@Kleinebombair2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for Sharing your know how with us
@darwinfoye2 ай бұрын
Great informative video. At 2:22 you mention True Peak in conjunction with the term "Ceiling". Thus, is this the same as what Apple refers to as "Out Ceiling" in Logic's Adaptive Limiter? Secondly, in many mastering videos, I am seeing the Out Ceiling set to -0.3 dB, rather than -1.0 that you are recommending. As of 2024, are you still recommending this number? I realize recommendations can change over time as we are seeing with the LUFS for various genres of music.
@silenc92 жыл бұрын
No professional mixing or mastering engineer will ever master at -14 lufs. It will never compete. Just clip it and rip it, make it loud af. Just dont lose too much transient information and dont get too much artifacts/distortion/saturation/clipping. Thats it
@inthemix2 жыл бұрын
I’ve seen professionals mastering at integrated levels of between -4 and -16 LUFS. You have to do what serves the music the best.
@silenc92 жыл бұрын
@@inthemix sure. I mainly mix and master very heavy genres of metal and the biggest guys in that genre make the songs ridiculously loud, punchy and impactful. Also saturation and lots of compression are common within the genre so the sound is very aggressive
@GuidoHaverkort2 жыл бұрын
Should you have a seperate master for playing it live? As a dj And should that master be as loud as possible?
@FataMorgana-Official8 ай бұрын
My thoughts about loadness for mastering. Use your ears and make a master that sounds as good as possible and make it as load as you possible can. How much you should compress and if you should use a limiter at the end of the master chain really depends on genre (the more you use compression and limiting, the loader the master can be). I recently remastered a recording I made in 2001. I just used my ears and made an analysis after the mastering was done, it ended up around -9 to -10 LUFS, which somehow is the "normal" level for a rock/hardrock record. Jazz is lower, metal is higher, but the important thing is to be in se same ballpark as your competitors. The band Fata Morgana is not a metal band so I think I did it right. Feel free to listen (just click on me). If you like guitar-driven hardrock with more complex arrangements but still melodic, you should defenetely listen. Remember, your ears are going to tell you whats right. not numbers! // Peter, guitarist in Fata Morgana
@sabboumusicc11 ай бұрын
Thank you so much !
@laughoutloud22472 жыл бұрын
Michael is so 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥✅
@shorerocks2 жыл бұрын
Excellent, but... what levels for CD's? I do rock, and when a new Joe Bonamassa come out (or something similar), I check their levels, to see where they are. Now all CDs I buy I make my own FLAC files, and these I usually play. CD's are so much louder than streaming. Is my conclusion correct that you would do a third master for CD production? Thx, great vid, as always.
@papatanice96272 жыл бұрын
Thanks again!
@dontworry23712 жыл бұрын
Helpfull
@OneMinuteMeds2 жыл бұрын
Second lime today KZbin gave me exactly the video I need to proceed in my current project, and both times it was In The Mix. Say what? I'm illuminated now as to why my sound recordings steamed to KZbin have been so damn low in volume. Time to remix and repost.
@ToT_music2 жыл бұрын
Спасибо. tiktok, of course, cuts music strongly, I will try different methods, but KZbin is certainly loyal to the sound and transfers it better than others. I haven’t thought much about this problem yet, but it’s already necessary)
@Tyrell_Corp2019 Жыл бұрын
Any thoughts on mastering ambient music? I’m in the process of doing so and I’m finding that it’s best to stay around -23 to -18 LUFS. (EBU R 128) True Peak around -8. Anymore than -18 LUFS and everything gets horribly squashed. I also cross-referenced with some Brian Eno tracks, and that’s exactly where most of his recordings sit. So I’m wondering… Is ambient music the exception? If so… Perhaps it warrants a video onto itself?
@DatboyChikez2 жыл бұрын
I really love this😊❤️❤️
@GabrielaZapataMusic13 күн бұрын
Hello! I just watched your newer video in which you said the loudness wars were over and loud won. Would you still advice keeping a true peak of -1 or below for the master (for Spotify, Apple,etc)?